Below is a tour report written by one of our customers. It is
reproduced here from a local RSPB group newsletter with kind
permission (all pictures Phil
Palmer).

It was in
September 2010 that I had an email from Pauline excitedly telling me
that she had booked herself onto the Bird Holidays trip to north east
Argentina. Whilst I had been to Argentina a couple of times in the
past, it was really only to pass through on the way to the Antarctic,
so I had a look at the itinerary and some of the birds that might be
seen.

It could have been
a cocktail menu, given the exotic names; would you drink a
black-and-white monjita or would you look at it through your bins?

So I had a
discussion with the Domestic Authorities, who decided that they were
happy for me to go and I made the booking. The only problem was that
it was over a year to go until the departure date…

An extension to
the trip in the brochure was mooted to take in a few days in Patagonia
which Pauline and I were only too happy to take advantage of since it
included looking for the exceedingly rare and comparatively recently
discovered Hooded Grebe. For the extension to be viable we needed one
more person to sign-up and fortunately, Ian decided that he wanted to
make the trip and would take the spare seat in Patagonia. Everything
was now in place.

Eventually, the time passed, and we arrived in Buenos Aires. In
the morning, we mustered by the bus and ticked off a few of the
urban specialities of the city, including Grey-breasted Martin,
Monk Parakeet and two of the most sought-after species of any trip
overseas – the feral pigeon and House Sparrow! Fortunately the
slow traffic in Buenos Aires allowed us to see Green-barred
Woodpecker, Picazuro Pigeon, Southern Lapwing and perhaps most
fittingly, the Argentine national bird the Rufous Hornero all
before we hit the road in earnest.

Certain species quickly became travelling companions for the rest
of the journey. Chimango and Southern Caracaras seemed to be
everywhere, fulfilling a very similar ecological niche as the
corvids in the UK. Southern lapwings were alongside the road all
the time and Fork-tailed Flycatchers were everywhere – although it
took one of the group three days to actually see one!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Nearer the coast,
we began to see Greater Rheas with increasing frequency. For such a
large bird, they required a bit of “getting your eye in” to separate
them from their surroundings and, on some occasions, sheep! We soon
got familiar with these big emu-like birds, even to the point of
discussing how they would taste……

Black-necked swans were common on
lakes by the coast

Arriving at the
coast, we began to get to grips with the waders, such as Hudsonian
Godwit, Solitary Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper, as well as an
array of passerines living in the coastal scrub. Getting the names
correctly was almost as tricky as identifying the species concerned,
such as Bay-capped Wren-spinetail and Sulphur-throated Spinetail. All
these were accompanied by Coscoroba and Black-necked Swans, various
egrets, coots and ducks and, a highlight for me, Chilean Flamingo and
Roseate Spoonbill.

The remaining
supporting cast was made up of raptors, perhaps the most beautiful
being a male Cinereous Harrier, which looks a lot like our Hen
Harrier. White-tailed and Snail Kites formed part of this ensemble
along the way, as did our first (of many) Burrowing Owls. For me, the
stars were gathered on the beach at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata
in the form of a large number of terns, including Gull-billed,
Cayenne, Royal, Common and Snowy-crowned. Another of my wish-list
birds put in an appearance in the form of a group of Black Skimmers;
these unusual birds have an extended lower mandible which they dip
into the water as they fly along the surface, catching their prey as
they go.

this Burrowing Owl had caught a bat
!

From the coast we
headed back to Buenos Aires to catch a short flight into the north
east of the country. This was where we hit the first of several
transport glitches, with our flight being summarily cancelled on us.
Quick work from our leader Phil Palmer and our local guide soon had us
on a flight to an alternative airport. A quickly rearranged bus
pick-up at the other end had us arriving at our Estancia in the heart
of the Ibera Marshes without delay. A few hours sleep and we were all
quickly out, taking in the Jacana, egrets, Screamers and Limpkin. We
also kept a watchful eye on the Caiman! The estancia was a large
cattle ranch, still very much worked in the traditional way by teams
of Gauchos on horseback. Out on the trails, it was quickly confirmed
that the Black-and-white Monjita is most definitely a bird, not a
cocktail and a beautiful one at that.

the gauchos taking the cattle out to
new pastures

Strange-tailed Tyrant

There were several
highlights of the marshes, one being the Strange-tailed Tyrant. This
little bird has really long “tail-flags” which it uses for display,
and we were lucky enough to see it in action. This bird was the emblem
of the trip, so we were very pleased to see it.

The other big
highlight for me was the variety of rails and crakes that we got to
see, by boat and on land. Giant Wood Rail were everywhere, but we also
got some real rarities in the shape of Rufous-sided Crake, Yellow
Breasted Crake, Purple Gallinule and Spotted Rail.

Giant Woodrail

Yellow-breasted Crake - a tiny
little bird but also a Mega prize here

Spotted Rail

From Ibera we
pressed on to Iguazu via Misiones' historical ruins. Combining a UNESCO
World heritage site with a toilet stop is something that few would
think of but Phil, can prides himself on having some unusual
ideas!

martins and Cliff Flycatchers were
found at Misiones; a UNESCO site,

The waterfalls at
Iguazu are stunning and, to my mind, surpass Victoria and Niagara as a
spectacle. It is no wonder that they appear as the backdrop to so many
films! The undoubted stars were the Great Dusky Swifts, plunging into
the water to perch on the cliffs in and around the deluge; they were
an absolute joy to see. We were also treated to Toco Toucans, one of
which was caught in the act of stealing an egg from a Kiskadee, whilst
parrots, parakeets and a smattering of hummingbirds all added to the
experience.

vultures wait for something to
plunge to its death over the falls

this Toco Toucan had stolen a
flycatcher's egg.

it didn't get away too easily

The relatively
early fall of night did nothing to diminish the birding, as we
found that a Potoo was using the trees round the hotel to hunt for
moths. We were also fortunate to get permission to visit a
restricted area in a nature reserve to see Scissor-tailed and
Sickle-winged Nightjars. The former gave us a fabulous display of
its’ extremely long tail feathers.

Within the town of Iguazu, one
highlight was undoubtedly the Jardin de la Picaflores, which is a
private garden in which there are a large number of sugar-syrup
feeders. One hour spent in that garden was magical, with eight
different species of hummingbird present during that time. The
names are as glorious as the birds – Black-throated Mango, Gilded
Sapphire and Glittering-bellied Emerald to name just three. They
were joined by Bananaquit, Blue Dacnis and Violaceous Euphonia,
all of which added greatly to the colour.

Sickle-winged Nightjar is one of the
smallest nightjars in the world. As well as being one of the hardest to see.

Black-fronted Piping Guan

The Uraguai
Provincial Park was the remaining birding venue and quickly
delivered a dazzling array of flycatchers, hirundines,
woodcreepers and tanagers, with the Swallow-tailed Tanager being a
real highlight. A fly-by from the locally mega-rare Grey-headed
Kite was a real treat and set us up very well for one of the local
forest specialities, the Black-fronted Piping-guan. This turkey
sized bird gave away its’ presence with a carpet of dropped fruit,
and it froze in position for some time giving us brilliant views.

An unscheduled air traffic
controllers strike conspired to fox our leader’s plans, but we
made the return journey to Buenos Aires on an luxury overnight
bus, featuring fold flat beds, a personal video player and at-seat
hot meals!!!! Our Patagonia flight took us to El Calafate. Phil
and Santiago, our local guide, took us to a municipal reserve and
we began to clock up the local specialities, with Upland Geese,
Chiloe Wigeon and Black-faced Ibis seen before dinner.

The following
day, we enjoyed Condor sightings as we set off across the
wind-swept Patagonian landscape and started to pick up
Tawny-throated Dotterel, various miners, seedsnipe and
sierra-finches. We stopped finally by a lake and were treated to
our ultimate target, the critically endangered Hooded Grebe. This
is a stunning little bird and one that I count myself extremely
fortunate to have seen. With less than 200 left, they are
threatened by mink and gull predation brought about by the
introduction of alien fish to their isolated lakes.

Our final day saw
us at the Perito Moreno glacier, a fitting end to the non-avian
spectacle of our trip and a final flourish of birds, including a
fly-past by an Ashy-headed Goose, as well as Austral Parakeets,
Austral Blackbirds and Spectacled Duck. From there we headed back to
El Calafate airport and began the long journey home.

In the end, I
chalked up 337 species, of which 290 were lifers. Pauline and I also
passed our landmark 1000th species during the trip.
Argentina is certainly a country with a massive amount to offer a
visiting birder; British visitors are made to feel very welcome,
contra news reports. As for me, I am now looking in the Bird Holidays
brochure and wondering where next…

Many-coloured Rush-tyrant

a Lesser Grison was one of many good
mammals we encountered on this trip

Please
note: The above photographs were taken on previous trips. Itineraries change
from time to time and therefore you cannot rely on these photographs as
being an exact representation of what can be expected on a future tour. For
details of the each tour, you should refer to the brochure write-up.